


I Never Hated You

by Noctis_13



Series: Tired but Trying [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Love, Damian Wayne Feels, Gen, Hurt Damian Wayne, Racism, Red Robin AU, Tim Drake Angst, Tim Drake Has Issues, Tim Drake-centric, Xenophobia, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 21:56:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21143852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noctis_13/pseuds/Noctis_13
Summary: Tim had always wanted a little brother.





	I Never Hated You

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything. 
> 
> I hope ya'll enjoyed it. Even though, I gave up midway. <3
> 
> [Trigger Warning: Racism]

Contrary to popular belief, Timothy Jackson Drake was not okay. Once you don the mask, you're eligible for getting shit on by the entire world. 

Donning the domino mask implies that you can: 

Have your eldest brother betray you, and give your name to someone else. 

** (Check for you, Tim). **

Have your other brother, who was also your idol as a child, be hellbent on killing you because of a magical pit.

** (Also, check). **

Have your youngest brother find you as a threat to his placement in the family. 

** (Mhm, Tim will never forget that one, check).  **

Have an old as fuck dude call you "detective", notwithstanding that said dude has a big hard-on for you. 

** (Double fucking check).  **

Life as a bat is not all that it seems to be, _but Tim was too far gone to stop now_. 

Out of all of his family, Tim may come off as the sanest one. That statement, however, is untrue. Tim is the saddest one out of all. You can’t be expected to walk out of the vigilante life unscathed. 

Although, just because Tim is the saddest Robin ever, that does not mean that sorrow is the only emotion he feels. Take now, for example, right now Tim Drake was fucking livid. 

Tim was finally about to get the sleep he missed out on for the past four days. He walked around the mess that was scattered in his safe house and headed straight to his bed. Around his little nest, were coffee cups, Red Bull, and suspicious puddles of green goop. Tim would care about cleaning those things later though, for now all that he wanted to do was fall under the Sandman’s spell of sleep. 

He was so close to falling asleep too when his personal cellphone rang, causing him to groan in frustration. 

Tim answered the call abruptly, grumbling away at being cockblocked from sleep. 

”Master Tim?” Alfred’s voice filters into the speakers, snapping Tim out of his daze. 

”Alfred, is everything alright?” Tim asks, worry seeping into his words. 

”Yes, I am fine. Master Damian however, he’s in trouble.” Alfred explains. 

Tim freezes, as he feels something akin to ice go down his spine. 

”Is he injured?” Tim inquires, ready to bolt out of his safe house in a minute’s notice. 

Damian Wayne may hate Tim Drake’s guts, but he is Tim’s **fucking brother**,  whether he likes it or not. 

“No, at least I don’t think so. Master Damian has gotten into a scuffle at school, but no one can pick him up at the moment. Could you please go in Master Bruce’s stead then, Master Tim?” Alfred finally pops the question. 

Tim visibly unwinds, as he realizes, 

’Oh yeah, it was currently 3 P.M. on a Wednesday, there was no way Damian could have been heavily injured right now, as it wasn’t even time to patrol yet.’

”Sure, Al.” Tim responds affectionately. 

He then ends the call and scrubs his face with his hands. 

”Let’s hope I don’t end up starting another fight in the Principal's Office.” Tim murmurs while heading out of his nest. 

It took about fifteen minutes for Tim to pull up at the school's parking lot. 

Gotham Academy looked almost eerie, as Tim walked through the front doors. He located the Principal's Office in relative ease and slipped in. 

He immediately found Damian seated in a leather chair with another boy and his mother seated to his left.

"Ah, I’m glad you could join us, Mr. Drake. It is alright, Mr. Pennyworth already explained to us about Mr. Wayne's predicament while you were on the way here." The principal, also known as, Headmaster Hammer, stated. 

Tim nods his head politely to the man, before putting one of his hand’s on Damian's shoulder.

”So, what happened? If I may ask." Tim questions, eyeing the way Damian tenses under his grip. 

Headmaster Hammer sighs, before saying, 

"I'd like to know that myself, but so far Mr. Wayne here, has not answered any of my questions about the fight." 

Tim’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. 

’Why wasn’t Damian talking? Thinking about it the boy has been silent for far too long. Where were the demon’s brat usual sarcastic quips? Was Dami sick?' 

Tim glances at Damian, before hearing a high pitched voice speak from his left. 

"Perhaps the brat is silent because he is guilty." The woman on Tim’s left states, sniffing at the duo. 

Tim immediately recognizes her face from all the galas he had been too. 

Ah, it was Karen Rainer, so that means Damian had gotten in a fight with her son, Kyle Rainer. 

The Rainers were a well-off family, who worked in the trading and selling of antiques. They were pretty popular, as many of the Gotham Elites had an eye for exquisite valuables. 

Headmaster Hammer sighs at the woman in clear annoyance. 

"We have heard from multiple witnesses that Mr. Wayne was obviously provoked into the fight, Mrs. Rainer. So please, stop making presumptions."

Mrs. Rainer huffs at the Headmaster in badly hidden disdain, with a frown firmly etched onto her face. 

”Damian, please. Explain the situation.” Tim whispers down to his little brother while avoiding Damian's death glare. 

"I refuse, you will only make fun of me, Drake." Damian hisses at him, as his fists clench tightly onto his pants. 

Tim bites his lips in frustration, before speaking to Damian in Arabic. His accent may have been off, but it got the message through. 

”Tell me what's wrong, **little brother**.” Tim asks, letting the foreign language roll off his tongue. 

Damian stares at him in shock, like he was seeing Tim for the first-time. 

Damian sniffs at Tim, visibly shaking, before grabbing something from his messenger bag. 

Tim glances at the canvas Damian pulls out, and gazes at it remembrance. 

He remembers Damian working on that art piece for the past month. It was for an art contest his school announced earlier that semester. The student who won would get a scholarship award and a ticket to see the Louvre in Paris with a tour included.

Tim never saw the finishing product until now, but he was blown away by the elaborate detail Damian put on it.

In the background was the garden of the Wayne Manor and in the center of it all was a Robin just starting to crack out of its egg. 

Tim took in the painting with a sense of pride and was about to commend Damian on his beautiful piece when he spotted it. 

On top of the canvas, right where Damian painted the bright sky was a sentence written in what seemed like black calligraphy ink. 

”_Go back home, no one wants a terrorist here_." 

Damian hands the Headmaster his painting, and Tim can see his brother’s lips start to tremble. 

He could feel a sudden flash of anger overtake his veins, and for a moment he thinks about Jason's rage from the pit. Was this what he felt? A sudden urge to just destroy and let loose? 

The Headmaster takes in the painting and gasps at the words written on it. 

”Mr. Rainer, how could you! How dare you bully another student like this! Suspension for you! For a week you will be suspended, and when you come back you will serve two days of detention.” 

Mrs. Rainer yells in rage, rambling on and on about how it was unfair. 

”Mr. Wayne, you will be serving two detentions, but no suspension. I am so sorry that the staff had not seen this happen, but I assure you there will be no second time.” 

Damian nods quietly at the headmaster, as tears fight to escape his eyes. 

'_Fuck the no killing rule_.' 

Tim breathes in deep breaths, as he imagines what would happen if he just strangled Kyle and his mother until they could no longer breathe. Tim knew he could get away with it, he was a Robin after all, and a damn good one at that. 

Tim glares at Kyle and Karen Rainer, before turning to Headmaster Hammer.

"Is it alright if we can be excused now?" Tim asks, glancing down at his brother's obviously shaken form. 

The headmaster stares at Tim knowingly, before saying,

"Of course, and again, I am sorry for this. I will make sure this will not occur again, Mr. Drake." 

Tim nods his head at the principal, before glaring daggers at the Rainers, making Kyle squeal in fear, as his mother arrogantly scoffs in his direction. 

Tim then leads Damian away from the office, and into his car.

The drive back to the manor was silent, before Damian finally croaks out,

"Did you mean it, Drake?" 

"Mean what?" 

"When you called me 'little brother' ?" 

"Yes, Damian. I did." 

"Why? I haven't been exactly kind to you. Don't you habor hateful feelings for me?" 

Tim pulls into the manor, and stares into Damian's eyes. 

"I never hated you Damian,_ it was always you who hated me._"

Tim watches as his brother's eyes fill with guilt and understanding. 

Damian opens the car door, and walks out. 

"Thank you, Timothy." He whispers, before leaving. 

Tim freezes in shock at the sudden change of name, but smiles anyways at Damian's retreating back. 

"It's no problem Dami." Tim whispers, before driving off. 

Damian feels a warm bubbling sensation start in his chest, as he enters the Wayne Manor. 

He greets Alfred at the door, and heads straight to his room afterwards. 

Damian opens up a search tab, and looks up, 

"How to be a better little brother?" 

_ Tim Drake may hate himself, but he could never hate his siblings.  _


End file.
